Mekong Delta - Vietnam Travel Information
In Vietnam there are two main areas for food growing: the Red River Delta at the north of the country and the Mekong River Delta at the south. In this area the huge Mekong river splits into hundreds of routes before poured into the Southern China sea. The fruitful soil that the river carries along the 4500 km trail that it passed from its starting point in Tibet, sinks and cerates a very fertile area.
The Vietnamese name of the Mekong River is Cuu Long which means ?the nine dragons?, named after the nine river?s routes that end at the sea.
Visiting The Mekong Delta
The most convenient way to tour at the Mekong Delta is with an organized tour, taken from Ho Chi Minh City. Although there are many agencies that will be willing to sell you a tour, only few agencies actually operate tours, therefore there is no major difference between the different agencies.
 Route |
One day tour (recommended!) will take you to the central temple of a religion named Cao Dai and to Cu Chi Tunnels (see further details). The cost of this tour is $4 (and entrance ticket to the tunnels cost another $5). In addition to the tour mentioned above, there is another tour of 1-5 days along the delta. The 2 days tour includes:
I personally took the one day tour to the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi tunnels and the 2 days tour to the Mekong Delta. All together 3 days. |
 Costs |
A one day trip to the Kao Dai temple and the Cu Chi tunnels: 4$ (there is an aditional fee for the enrance to the tunnels of 5$. The two day trip is 15$. |
Cu Chi Tunnels
Cu Chi area was one of the famous battle fields of Vietnam?s wars. In this area there is a huge tunnels system which the Vietcong used at their war against the French and then against South Vietnam and the Americans.
Cu Chi area is situated about 40 km form Saigon city, therefore was a very important lineup area for the guerilla warriors before their departure to the attacks on Saigon.
The tunnels weren?t built in an aimed way. At first they were built as a hiding place from the American?s patrols. Each village built its own internal net of connecting tunnels. Through the years the tunnels were connected between them and were fortified. Until 1965 there were over 200 km of connected tunnels. The tunnels turned to an actual underground city.
The tunnels even went underneath the American?s army bases, that couldn?t figured out how did the warriors invaded their bases. The Americans tried to perform several search operations after the tunnels, but without any success. Even if a tunnel would have been discovered the Americans couldn?t get inside it (most of them were bobby-trapped and narrow for any western man to pass through them).
However, life in the tunnels wasn?t a picnic. The narrowed tunnels were full of mosquitoes, ants, spiders and poisonous centipedes. The air was moldy and the food and water were allotted.
The tour in the site includes crawling in the tunnels, a close acquaintance with booby-traps that were in use in the tunnels and to those who feel like shooting something ? shooting from a rifle (M-16 or Kalashnikov) for the extra cost of $1 per bullet.
Cao Dai Temple
Cao Dai religion was established in 1986 by a man called Ngo Van Chieu, which was a clerk in the French colonial regime, and claimed that he got a direct sign from god. The message ordered him to combine different religions from east and from west into one religion.
These religious people believes in one god that created all the main religions ? Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, confuchism and spiritualism. Judaism is not one of the main religions by their concept?
The religion believes in reincarnation and the believers aspire to exit this circle and reach paradise.
God is mentioned in the religion thorough the ?all-see? eye, therefore the eye that is painted on their temples enables an easy identification of them.
The religion?s structure is hierarchic, with a pope, cardinals, bishops etc.
Today there are about 8 millions religious believers around Vietnam.
Cai Rang Floating Market
A big part of the traffic in the Mekong Delta is done by boats, and the liveliest markets are the floating markets where the peasants offer their merchandise from boats.
Cai Rang market is not the biggest among the floating markets, but it is definitely one of the biggest. The market operates daily between 05:00 to 11:00, and the tour is included in most of the delta?s tours being offered in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the market there are fruits, vegetables and all kinds of fish.
The tour is done by a cruise on a boat between the various sellers? boats.
